Viewpoints

To the Editor:

Being that there are approximately 21.5 million Americans that struggle with addiction each year, one would venture to say that substance abuse is a relevant topic in today’s world. Even more troubling, 80% of those same people also struggle with an issue with alcohol. 8 million people struggle with what is called a co-occurring disorder, or “double trouble.” One question that continues to raise many arguments though, is addiction a choice? Or, is it something more?

To the Editor:

I am old enough to remember the first Earth Day in 1970, when 20 million people from communities throughout the United States came out to peacefully celebrate the environment and our precious earth. Some cleaned up litter, others planted trees, and, yet, others called for policy changes that would have lasting positive effects on our planet.

Earth Day is now celebrated worldwide in 193 countries and coordinated by the non-profit Earth Day Network. The theme for Earth Day 2019 - Monday, April 22 - was Protect Our Species.

The rapid reduction of plant and wildlife populations are directly linked to human activity: climate change, deforestation, habitat loss, trafficking and poaching, unsustainable agriculture, pollution and pesticides. Species in danger include coral reefs, whales, elephants and insects, to name a few.

Someone once described parables of Jesus as “narrative time bombs” - stealthy little stories that steal their way into your heart with their comfy tales about everyday things with which most folks can identify: farmers and seeds, women and bread-baking, fathers and son, landlords and tenants.
But then, without warning, the parable’s volatile fuel detonates, and BAM!

You’re thrown off balance and knocked off your feet as the parable blasts new awareness and understanding into your oftentimes heavily fortified heart and armor-plated mind.

“Jeepers! I thought Jesus was just talking about farmers planting seeds or the problems parents have with their kids, but what he’s really talking about is me, and everyone else, and our relationship with God! And, uh-oh, we don’t come off looking so good!”

Editor’s Note: The following was a letter also emailed by the author to the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors and the Allamakee County Engineer’s Office. The original letter contained photos of the condition of areas of the gravel road detour around the Irish Hollow Bridge replacement project on County Road A26 (Iowa River Drive) following the recent snow/rain storms that swept through the area Wednesday, April 10.

To the Editor:

I am writing to you with great disappointment, frustration and safety concerns. This is due to the poor road conditions on the A26 detour. It is an impassable detour, to say the least. I am not certain how one expects to continue to re-route traffic on this impassable road.

Lent

As we are in the season of Lent, many Christians in the world observe the discipline of praying and fasting; it’s the period we approach God through discipline.

The period of Lent many churches and Christians observe their discipline to God, it’s the season we think about our issues and others. It’s the season to walk on God’s path and take Jesus as an example which we can follow. Since I am talking about Lent, I have three points that we can observe during lent: Sacrifice, prayer and charity.

To the Editor:

When I became library director at Robey Memorial in 2014, I remember feeling a lot of things - mostly anxiety. I had been living in Waukon for two years but working at Meehan Memorial Library in Lansing, a much smaller town with a much smaller library. Not being a northeast Iowa native, I worried about whether I would fit in with the community. I worried about whether I would get along with the staff, the board, and the patrons. Basically, I worried about everything.

But it wasn’t all anxiety. The other feeling I had, the stronger feeling, was one of excitement. Robey was just completing an amazing renovation, and it felt like a privilege to be invited to take the wheel at such an important turning point for the library. I felt honored that the board of trustees was giving me a chance to lead.

To the Editor:

I see Chuck Grassley stopped in Waukon, by the front page of The Standard. I was just curious if any of our local businessmen and front row politicians had the courage - I think not - to ask Grassley why he is failing Iowa farmers, his oath and the rule of law to the U.S. Constitution, and why he now has turned into just a vote for whichever way his party wants him to vote.

You, as Iowans, really don’t count - only for your vote, and he would sell you out in a second to keep his party leaders happy. You should have asked him about tariffs, which are really a tax for Iowans.

By the way, he, also like his party leaders at all levels, does not tell you the truth, and there’s a good reason why he’s not chair leader now. I, myself, can quote him lying while he was shaking my hand, and when I called him out he dropped my hand like it was a hot potato.

Pat Ward
Waterville
 

To the Editor:

Sadly, I recall a friend who was seriously ill and seeking treatment at Mayo Clinic.  Not only was she dealing with the stress and worries of an illness but extremely distraught because she learned her insurance company would not cover treatment. Her insurance company determined her illness was a pre-existing condition so would not pay the medical bills.  Guilty over becoming ill and fearing bankruptcy, she felt her best option was to cancel all medical appointments and forego treatment.

Many found themselves facing these kind of choices before the Patient Protection - Affordable Care Act was passed 9 years ago. Prior to this Act, 50 million people were uninsured. One in two people had a preexisting condition like diabetes, heart disease, cancer which insurance would not cover. The number one cause of bankruptcy was an inability to pay medical bills.

To the Editor:

Our community has lost many trees this spring at our Waukon City Park and along our main streets for a variety of good reasons. I would like to encourage individuals to help replace what is lost.

Trees provide needed pollution control, cut utility usage for homes and businesses, provide habitat for wildlife and add beauty to our world. Even small ornamental trees and evergreen shrubs can make a difference.

Please consider how you can help to continue to keep Allamakee County a special and beautiful part of Iowa.

Julie VanderVelden
Waukon
 

Was this past winter an extreme one for you?  Perhaps you didn’t even see or talk to your neighbors for months!  A person may ask, “Who is my neighbor? Why should I care?  Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Quoting Jesus, Matthew 7:12, “Therefore (because), whatever (in all things) you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”  In other words, Do unto others what you would want done to you!  This is an incredible and easy principle to understand and live by, but oftentimes do we?   I conclude many of our services with this charge in the closing prayer: there are people waiting on the other side of your obedience for their God encounter- for their miracle.